México tiene historias que el mundo necesita conocer. La de Santos de la Torre es una de las más complejas, más reveladoras y, en muchos sentidos, más urgentes de entender. Aquí está el contexto que las noticias rara vez ofrecen.
La historia detrás
Santos Motoapohua de la Torre (born April 28, 1942 in Santa Catarina Cuexcomatitlán, Jalisco) is one of the most world renowned Huichol artists. His works aim to capture the mystery and magnificence of the Wixárika (Huichol people) and their spiritual beliefs. His main works are located in places like Paris, Chicago, Zacatecas and Nayarit. His Huichol name, “Motoapohua”, translates to “Echo of the mountain”.
Career When he was young, Santos de la Torre lived in extreme poverty. On his conversations with Mexican writer Fernando Alarriba, he described his first experience with Hikuri (peyote), where he found a mystic reality that he gradually understood with the help of his father, a Mara’akame (Huichol Chaman) that guided him in the interpretation of his visions and dreams. His artistic career started at 23 years old, right at the top moment of Huichol contemporary art portrayed globally by artists like José Benítez Sánchez and Tutukila Carrillo Sandoval. His brother, Jesus, asked him
Los protagonistas
Santos de la Torre’s life in Mexico City allowed him observe the enormous value of the art of his ethnic group, nationally and internationally. However, he came into a big leap of uncertainty and repulsion due to the exploitation towards Huichol artists and craftsmen that took him to isolate at the heart of Jalisco’s Sierra and stop creating art for almost 10 years. After a great deal of time working in the fields, Santos started looking for new ways of expressions, leading him to create new artworks. These groundbreaking works of his demonstrated a deep experience when it came to the myths, Gods, ancestors, and principles that created the Huichol cosmogony. This is how he and his family created Sonido de Musico, composed by 100 pieces of 15 x 15 cm that would become the mark of murals that made his career on a global level. In 1993 he obtained resources from the Programa de Fomento a Proyectos y Coinversiones Culturales del Fondo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes with his work Mist
Dato clave: On his interviews with Fernando Alarriba, the artist pointed that the mission of the Huichol art consists in offering a close up to the roots of sacred deities of life that manifest and have been immortalized since memorial times in rituals, shamanic chants, ceremonies and artistic expressions of his community.
Lo que los documentales no muestran
De la Torre has gone on pilgrimages in all sacred territories of the Wixárika people, and bases his work in personal visions like on explanations about rituals and chants of the Mara´akames; since his youth he has practiced meditation, dream interpretation, and stayed close to the ancestral memory of the Huichol community thru the use of peyote. On his interviews with Fernando Alarriba, the artist pointed that the mission of the Huichol art consists in offering a close up to the roots of sacred deities of life that manifest and have been immortalized since memorial times in rituals, shamanic chants, ceremonies and artistic expressions of his community. Another topic less pointed in Santos work has been the role that his family has in the creation of each work. His wife Graciela used to help tracing his drawings, as well knitting and collocating beads. His sons and grandchildren also participate in the creation of his works, all of them made from sketches and original concepts of Santos
Las consecuencias
Santos de la Torre has been the subject of considerable study and documentation. Santos Motoapohua de la Torre is one of the most world renowned Huichol artists. His works aim to capture the mystery and magnificence of the Wixárika and their spiritual beliefs. His main works are located in places like Paris, Chicago, Zacatecas and Nayarit. His Huichol name, “Motoapohua”, translates to “Echo of the mountain”.
Por qué esta historia importa
La historia de Santos de la Torre no es solo un relato del pasado. Es un espejo que nos ayuda a entender el México de hoy — sus contradicciones, su resiliencia, sus retos y su potencial. Conocerla es un primer paso hacia una conversación más honesta sobre el país y la sociedad que queremos construir.
[ ENCUESTA RÁPIDA ]